The invention relates to a piezoelectric lighter and tool combination and, more particularly, to a two-stage safety arrangement to reduce the possibility of accidental ignition, or ignition by a child.
Conventional piezoelectric cigarette lighters are generally, inexpensive, convenient to use and easy to operate. As such, each year, many children, as well as adults, are injured by the accidental ignition of cigarette lighters. In light of the terrible consequences associated with severe burning, and the structural damage caused to real and personal property, many nations, including the United States, have developed laws to prevent the commercial marketing and sale of cigarette lighters which fail to provide adequate preventive means for actuating the piezoelectric ignition mechanism contained in these lighters.
It is a direct result of children playing with disposable cigarette lighters, as well as the accidental ignition of these lighters by adults, that house and motor vehicle fires have started, resulting in burn injuries and often death. Accordingly, under United States law, disposable, novelty and certain refillable lighters cannot be sold unless they meet certain performance requirements and function to impede accidental ignition, as well as operation of the lighter by small children. In fact, safety features for disposable lighters are so essential that under United States law, manufacturers are prohibited from supplying devices designed or intended to disable, hinder, remove or otherwise render ineffective, a child resistant mechanism or any other safety feature, of a cigarette lighter.
With the rising usage of piezoelectric cigarette lighters, it has become increasingly important to provide economical safety mechanisms for adequately protecting those people in possession, as well as those in the vicinity, of piezoelectric cigarette lighters. Piezoelectric cigarette lighters are typically provided with a flammable liquid container and a release mechanism on the upper side of the gas container, and a piezoelectric ignition element easily controllable by depressing a button, or similar structural equivalent. The conventional safety-related modifications to piezoelectric cigarette lighters typically provide an arrangement in which a modified safety implementation must be actuated before activation of the piezoelectric ignition element can be accomplished.
There is a need in the art for a piezoelectric cigarette lighter safety arrangement in combination with one or more utility tools, e.g., a knife, screwdriver, nail file, etc. The convenience associated with carrying a pocket knife manufactured to include devices such as clocks, key rings, thermometers, magnifying glasses, and the like, in combination with a piezoelectric cigarette lighter cannot be understated. A combination device of this sort will certainly prove to be very handy and will undoubtedly contribute toward the overall attractiveness of cigarette lighters, as well as pocket knives to consumers.
Accordingly, while government regulations require child-resistant measures to be implemented on all cigarette lighters, including those of the piezoelectric type, there still exists a need in the art for an economically effective device, requiring minimal structural modification from existing products, which acts to inhibit the ignition of a piezoelectric cigarette lighter by both children and adults.
The present invention is directed to a piezoelectric cigarette lighter that has a flammable liquid container, gas release mechanism, and piezoelectric ignition element. The lighter includes a safety arrangement formed by an ignition cover, a striking lever, and a release button, which interact with each other.
In use, an individual wishing to ignite the lighter must first depress the release button to release a latch so that the user can flip open the ignition cover with an upward movement of the thumb and reveal the gas release mechanism. Next, the user must continue to depress the release button while rotating the striking lever downwards and away from the gas release mechanism to actuate the piezoelectric ignition element and to begin the flow of flammable gas from the flammable liquid container. The two stage process of having to first depress the release button and flip open the ignition cover and then keep the release button depressed while the striking lever is rotated is relatively complex and is difficult to perform accidentally. Additionally, children are not able to easily perform the process.
To further prevent people otherwise incapable of performing these relatively complicated motions from attempting to use multiple fingers to depress the release button while moving the striking lever rotatably outwards from above, a raised safety ridge, near the gas release mechanism, may be provided to eliminate any grippable edge of the striking lever near the flame.
In an embodiment of the invention, the safety arrangement is combined with a utility tool combination, e.g., a knife, screwdriver, nail file, etc., disposed between two lateral plates, that are substantially flat and parallel, with the body of the lighter serving as one lateral plate, and together the two lateral plates serve as the handle for the utility/lighter combination. Between the two lateral sides diverse implements can be disposed, which can be pulled out individually by pivoting or sliding in a plane parallel to the inner faces of the lateral sides.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a two-stage safety arrangement for a lighter of the piezoelectric type.
An additional object is to provide the above-mentioned lighter with a two-stage safety arrangement in combination with a diverse selection of implements, e.g., a knife, screwdriver, nail file, etc.
A further object is to provide a lighter in which the area around the gas release mechanism has a raised safety ridge to prevent an individual from gripping the edge of the striking lever near the flame and possibly igniting the lighter with a portion of his hand or fingers near the gas release mechanism.